'Scream Queens' canceled? Lea Michele lands new TV gig before season 3 news.

Culture

After appearing in Ryan Murphy's Scream Queens for two seasons, actress Lea Michele — who played the role of Hester in the series — has gotten out of her contract and signed on for a comedy pilot. 

Michele will star in a half-hour pilot about a failed rapper who, on a whim, decides to run for public office and ends up winning. Her role is currently undisclosed. While this is undoubtedly great news for the actress, it brings into question the future of Scream Queens, which wrapped its second season in December.

What's going on with Scream Queens season three?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Michele leaving Scream Queens has nothing to do with the status of season three of the series. If another season does manage to get picked up, Michele just won't be a part of it — which may be fine, given that Hester and Brock ran off to Blood Island with Dean Munsch's cash in the season two finale. 

Meanwhile, the series hasn't done super well for Fox. The premiere episode of season two was down 41% from the first season and dropped another 50% in November. 

Nevertheless, at the Television Critics Association panel back in January, Fox's Gary Madden told reporters that ratings aren't everything. "It's very much still in consideration for a renewal," he said. "The ratings don't tell the whole story; because it's such a young audience, you can't really even see the full picture even in L+3."

It also probably doesn't help its case that Murphy has been so busy with other projects. Murphy is working on a new season of American Horror Story, has Feud debuting on FX on March 5 and has several new seasons of American Crime Story in the works.

Mic has ongoing coverage on Scream Queens and Ryan Murphy. You can read more about the series at its hub here and more about Murphy here.